Swimmer&#39;s glove



A 13, 1940 R. A. CLAYTON, JR 2,211,536

SWIMMER S GLOVE Filed NOV. 20, 1959 2 F Fig.1

l4 7 INVEIVTOR Fig. 6 BY RICHARD A. CLAYTONJr.

' A TTORNZ Y5 Patented Aug. 13, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFEQE 4Claims.

My invention relates to an improved swimmers glove adapted to be worn onthe hand for the purpose of gaining more thrust from the swimmingstroke, adding buoyancy to the users body, and in general increasing theease of swimming.

One object of my invention is to provide a swimmers glove which will, asfar as is possible,

have all the hydrodynamic characteristics of a correctly proportionedairfoil as to lift and drag, and at the same time have its center oflift so positioned longitudinally that no uncomfortable strains will beimposed on the weaker parts of the swimmers hand, such as the ends ofthe fingers.

Another object of my invention is to provide a swimmers glove having aconvexly curved back provided with recesses adapted to receive the handso that it conforms to the regular curving lines of the glove, thuspreventing loss of effioiency due to interruption of the streamlines bthe hand.

' Another object of my invention is to secure the glove to the usershand by means of a strap of elastic material, such as rubber, passingacross the back of the hand in such a way and with sufficient tensionthat the hand is held firmly but comfortably in place and in continuouscontact with the bottom of the recesses, thus pre--- venting lost motionbetween the hand and glove.

Another object is to provide a swimmers glove having all the foregoingcharacteristics which shall leave the wrist and fingers entirely free ofrigid connection with 'anypart of the glove or strap so that the naturalflexing of the joint is not impaired.

A further object of my invention is to provide the glove with recessesof such shape and contour that the fingers. and side of the hand maycomfortably and efficiently impart lateral motion to the glove when theswimmer desires to propel himself through the water by a true scullingstroke, or combinations of the sculling only slightly concave in onedirection, the whole conforming in transverse cross section to the shapeof two airfoils abutting at their thicker portions. An elastic strap issecured to the body portion and extends over the recess for the palm 5portion of the hand in such manner that when the hand is inserted thestrap is put in tension thereby.

Referring to the drawing which illustrates my improved glove in itspreferred embodiment only and in which similar numerals refer to similarparts throughout,

Fig. 1 is a back plan View of my invention showing the recess adapted toreceive the hand and the elastic strap;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line III]1I of Fig. 1;

' Fig. 4 is a side view illustrating the position of the hand in therecesses and showing how the entire hand lies wholly within the body ofthe glove;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line V-V' of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line VI-VI '25 of Fig. 1.

In its preferred embodiment my improved .swimmers glove comprises a bodyll formed of wood or a light plastic, with a convexly curved back,rounded at its finger end l2 and curved around on smooth curves to joinwith a substantially vertical rear wall l3 at the wrist. Wherever two ormore surfaces join, I provide gently rounded connecting curves so thatover the whole of the body there are no sharp pointed portions whichwould disrupt the streamlined effect or increase the drag when the gloveis moved laterally through water in a sculling stroke, that is, to theright or left, as viewed in Fig. 1. 40

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that in longitudinal sectionthe back side of the body tapers from the forward end I2 to the rearwall I3, while in transverse cross section it conforms substantially toa section through a high lift air- 45 foil, with the exception that ithas what in airfoil sections would be two trailing edges. In effect,therefore, the body is an airfoil section, and I have found byexperimentation in water that it produces a remarkable amount of liftwithout noticeable drag.

I provide the palm of the body I l with a slight transversely concavepalm M, which is merged with the sloping back portion by the marginalbackwardly curved section, indicated at l6.

This backwardly curving section extends pcripherally around on each sidefrom the rear wall l3 and fades out at the point of maximum width of theglove. I have found this curved section 18 to be very important in thatit causes the glove to be forced upwardly through the water on thesculling stroke without the swimmer having to incline the surface to thehorizontal. Therefore, it is not necessary that the swimmer deliberatelytilt the glove to obtain an upward lift, but it is enough if he moves itlaterally through the water in a sub stantially horizontal position.Also, this curved.

section gives better flow characteristics transversely over the glove,for on the sculling stroke the thin marginal edge which is trailing setsup less swirling action than would be the case if the bottom continuedout to the edge along the line of the slightly concave palm. I have alsoobserved that while the palm; should be slightly concave, the emciencyof the glove is materially reduced if the palm is undercut too much, asexcessive concavity increases drag.

On the back of the body I l, I provide a thumb recess ll, fingerrecesses i8, i9, 2!, 22 and a palm recess 23, all of which are cut deepenough into the body so that when the glove is in use, the back of thehand and the fingers lie approximately level with the side edges of theseveral recesses, and thus form a more streamlined body. At no point dothe various parts of the hand extend beyond what would have been thecontinuous curved back had the recesses not been provided.

At the point where the fingers attach to the palm I provide the recesseswith slightly raised portions lilo, 19a, 22a, and 22a. The purpose ofthese raised portions is to make the bottom of the recesses conform moreperfectly to the exact shape of the under or palm side of the hand.

Between each of the finger recesses I provide tapering division walls24, 2B, 21 and 28, so that when the fingers are in the recesses theybear firmly against both. of the side walls. When the hand is movedlaterally through the water, mo tion is imparted to the glove from thefingers and the sides of the palm through these side walls, so that suchforce is evenly distributed and does not put an excessive load on anypart -of the hand. Further, since the recesses are defined by slopingside walls, I am able to make my glove in fewer number of finger sizes,as fingers of different diameters will fit snugly into the recesses.

To secure the glove to the hand I provide a resilient strap, formedpreferably of rubber and extending across the recess for the palmportion of the hand. As seen in Fig. 1, the strap is a Y-shaped membercomprising a piece 2i? secured by a nailing washer 3! to the edge of thebody H rearwardly of the recess ll near the base of the thumb, and asecond piece 32 secured by a like nailin washer 3! to the body portionbetween the thumb recess and finger recess l8. These two pieces join ata point 33 slightly off center with respect to the palm and toward thelittle finger side, and continue as a single piece to a point on theconvexly sloping side, where it is similarly secured to the body. Inpractice I have found this type of strap and the position on the back ofthe hand as shown to be of the utmost importance. While it is necessaryto hold the hand continuously in contact with the bottom of therecesses, it is equally essential that the wrist joint be left free sothat its various flexing movements will not be restricted. With a strapas shown, I have found that both of these essentials are obtained.

Referring to Fig. 4, I show a hand 36 in place in the recesses andengaged across the back of the palm portion by the elastic strap. Thewrist 3? protrudes from the rear of the glove and it will be noted thatthe wrist joint, indicated by dotted line 38, is entirely removed fromboth the glove and the strap, thus preventing interference with the freemovements of the whole hand. It will also be noted that when the hand isinserted into the recesses, the back portion opposite the palm protrudesenough to put the strap in tension, but that no part of the hand orfingers protrudes any substantial distance above the level of thegeneral outline of the curved back of the glove. Thus the hand andfingers fill up the recesses and serve to complete the streamlinedeifect of the back of the glove, offer no resistance to motion, and atthe same time full flexibility of the joints is maintained.

It will be understood that when swimming with my improved glove, one isworn on each hand, and while I have illustrated only the one for theright hand, there is no difference in construction except that therecesses are positioned to accommodate the left hand.

I have used a pair of gloves built in accordance with the foregoingdescription, and find that they feel perfectly natural on the hand. Theyare extremely comfortable, and because the thick, high lift portion isadjacent the palm portion of the hand, very little load is imposed onthe outer ends of the fingers.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications, without departing from the spiritthereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon as are imposed by theprior art or as are specificallyset forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A swimming glove comprising a rigid body generally circular in planrecessed in the back thereof to receive the hand of a swimmer and of athickness substantially sufiicient to contain the hand, a generally flatpalm, a back convexly curved transversely of the length of the hand, thethickness of said body and the rate of transverse curvature of said backdecreasing from the wrist end to the finger end thereof, and yieldablemeans to hold the hand within the recess.

2. A swimming glove comprising a body generally circular in planrecessed in the back thereof to receive the hand of a swimmer and of athickness sufficient to contain the hand, a back surface convexly curvedtransversely of the length of the hand, a generally fiat palm surface,said back and palm surfaces merging to form peripheral portions thinnerthan the central part of the body, division walls separating therecesses for the fingers rising from the bottom of the back recess to aheight substantially equal to the thickness of the adjacent fingers. andmeans to hold the hand within the recesses.

3. A swimming glove comprising a body generally circular in planrecessed in the back thereof to contain the palm and fingers of aswimmers hand, the recesses for the palm and fingers being defined bywalls against which the sides of the palm and fingers bear to transmitlateral movement of the hand to the glove, said recesses being of adepth approximating the thickness of the respective parts of the handcontained therein, said back being convexly curved transversely to thedirection of the length of the hand, the rate of said transversecurvature decreasing from the wrist end of the body to the finger endthereof, and means to hold the hand in the recesses.

4. A swimming glove comprising a buoyant body, recessed in the back toreceive the hand and fingers of a swimmer, and of a thickness sufficientsubstantially to contain the hand, a generally fiat palm, a backconvexly curved transversely of the length of the hand, division wallsbetween the finger recesses rising from the bottom of the recesses andof a height substantially equal to the thickness of the adjacentfingers, and an elastic member in tension across the back of the handcomprising a piece secured to the body between the thumb and firstfinger recesses, a second piece secured to the body near the recess forthe base of the thumb, said pieces joining near the back of the hand andcontinuing as a single piece to a point adjacent the opposite side wallof the palm recess, and means tosecure said last mentioned piece to thebody.

RICHARD A. CLAYTON, JR.

